Friday, July 07, 2017

When I was a kid coming up in the 50's, the worst thing that you could be called was a “Black African.” Many fights broke out about that, because it conjured up images of Tarzan, one White man beatin’ the hell out of entire African tribes who were runnin’ around in grass skirts and bones through their noses. Tarzan also had the assistance of the animals, because even they knew that he was the “King of the jungle.” He strutted around like a God, with the African people seeming to recognize, and acknowledging his superiority, and their inferiority. The African people were portrayed as being so dumb that they only had a two-word vocabulary - “Boola, boola.”
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KATHLEEN CLEAVER

African American people were forced to live with that imagery of themselves and their culture during the 50's. Then in 1961 John Coltrane came along with a different vision of what it meant to be Black. When he recorded “Africa” he changed our view of what we represented as a people. While many of us in the past had been ashamed of our culture, Black pride flowed from Trane's horn like honey. Trane carried dignity in his gig bag, along with Afros, dashikis and beautiful Black women strutting around in African Sun dresses. A new era of Black consciousness had begun. .

I first heard "Africa" when I was 12 years old, and I’ve never been the same since. My mother mourned her "little boy" who loved to cuddle up next to her, because on the very day that I heard Trane I left my childhood behind, never to looked back. He opened up a new world for me, so on that very day I acknowledged a new King who escorted me into his domain. He revealed a kingdom

of knowledge, Blackness, and pride. So for me, the battle against Tarzan was on.

Society Of Professional Journalists

Eric L. Wattree

Strive To Become Your Own Hero... Then Let No One Remove Your Cape.

BIO

Eric L. Wattree is a writer, poet, and musician, born in Los Angeles. He’s been a columnist for The Los Angeles Sentinel, Black Star News, The Atlanta Post, and is a member of the Sigma Delta Chi Society of Professional Journalists (http://www.spj.org/). He’s also the author of "A Message From the Hood."Some of the greatest minds I’ve ever known held court while sitting on empty milk crates in the parking lots of ghetto liquor stores, while some of the weakest minds I’ve ever known roamed the halls of academia in pursuit of credentials over knowledge.Eric L. Wattreehttp://www.whohub.com/wattree

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My Political Persuasion

"YOUR BROTHER, IS THE MAN WHO THINKS LIKE YOU" - UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS.

WHAT A MAN THINKS, IS WHO HE IS. THINK LIKE A MARINE - STRONG, RESOLUTE, AND WITH HONOR.

GOP CONTRACT WITH AMERICA

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The Hater

Am I a hater, you ask? You're damn right I'm a hater. I hate injustice. I hate hypocrisy. I also hate demagoguery, apathy, and the stupidity that allows it to exist. Hater? Absolutely. I'm a big time hater. I hate what I see happening to this country, and I hate watching the development of a culture that embraces ignorance with a stupid sense of pride. So yes, I am indeed a hater, but not only that - I'm a hater with a very low threshold for bullshit, so step off.